i just got off the phone with southern edison and i am so now confused about the TOU plan. it sounds like i am going to pay more than i thought for the electric bill. can someone explain to me the following rate plans from southern edison. has anyone switched to the TOU plan and found that it working for them?

I am on the TOU plan from SCE. Like smkettner I also have solar panels on my roof.

The basic difference between the plans is with Residential, you pay for how much you use, no matter when you use it, and on the TOU plan, you pay more or less depending on the time you use it.

So for me, with solar panels, during peak, I am generating more than what my house uses, so I rarely ever pay for power during the day. I set my Leaf to end it's charging cycle by 5:00 am, so it always charges at super off peak rates.

Last year, my annual electricity bill was about $700. And when I was on the Residential plan, it was about 10% more.

I also have TOU-D-TEV with solar. We have 5.2 kW solar and haven't paid an electric bill in 7 years. Details on my blog, linked below in my sig.

Quick answer is that without solar, you'll still probably do better with the TOU plan as long as you don't use much power during the Peak hours, and you charge the car during Super Off Peak. You'll probably use about 250 to 350 kWh per month for car charging. If you can do that for 10 cents or less per kWh using the TOU plan, you'll come out ahead versus paying the Tier 4 rate on the regular Tiered plan.

Heavy weekday daytime power draw will kill the benefit of TOU.

With home solar, it's a no brainer. TOU is the way to go unless you have heavy WEEKDAY AC use or other Peak power draw.

thanks for the answers. i do not have solar on my home. i'll just be charging at night. since i only use 50% of my battery per day, i'll be charging around 10kw per night, assuming i'm only charging to 80%.

since i moved into a new house, i have to wait and see what my tier category looks like. we don't have AC and only use the heater set at 72 degrees.

it seems like i'll be paying more for my peak hours if i switch to TOU. even though i'll get a better rate for my car at off-peak. i guess its a balancing game.

PALMER wrote:thanks for the answers. i do not have solar on my home. i'll just be charging at night. since i only use 50% of my battery per day, i'll be charging around 10kw per night, assuming i'm only charging to 80%.

since i moved into a new house, i have to wait and see what my tier category looks like. we don't have AC and only use the heater set at 72 degrees.

it seems like i'll be paying more for my peak hours if i switch to TOU. even though i'll get a better rate for my car at off-peak. i guess its a balancing game.

Wait-and-see is fine, of course. But my take is that without AC, your Peak usage will be small enough that you won't get hurt by the TOU rates. Remember that 10 kWh per day for car charging is 300 kWh per month, and if you can do that at 10 cents per kWh, you'll save $30 per month compared with charging at 20 cents or more per kWh on the regular Tiered plan.